MERIDIAN, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – On Tuesday, Digio Strageties celebrated the Retirement of Joyce Franklin.
Mrs. Joyce has spent the last 46 years working in the traffic department for various radio stations across the Meridian area.
“I started in February of ’78, I think, and … 46 years. A lifelong journey that’s been good. Radio has been good to me and my family,” said Franklin.
She said retiring is a bitter-sweet feeling.
“A very emotional type thing. You know, happy to have reached this stage in life, but sad to see a stage in life to come end, you know. That’s been my life, going to do the traffic, putting the pieces together, so it’s not easy to travel through, but it’s a fun time as well,” said Franklin.
For the past few years, Mrs. Joyce has also been the radio personality for PRAISE, the gospel station at Digio Strategies— something she was hesitant to try at first.
“Kind of frightening at first, you know, here I’m thinking all these people are listening to me, listening to the words I say, but then when people start responding in such positive ways, It became like a shot or an injection of energy that I didn’t know I needed,” said Franklin.
Joyce said there are many people throughout her career that she reflects on fondly.
“One that, one of Meridian’s hearts is John Anthony of course, you know, he’s been a great friend throughout the years. Ken Stokes was a great dear friend that helped me a lot when I first started doing the on-air part. He said ‘now you know, you’re on radio, you can’t just talk any kind of way,’ you know. He was just the one that really, really, embraced… we embraced each other,” said Franklin.
Although she’s retiring from traffic, Joyce has no plans to stop being on-air.
“My sister actually said ‘I don’t know anybody who retires one day and starts another job the next day,” said Franklin. “Don’t worry, we’re going to be here. This is a change, not doing anything new, it’s just a little shift. We’re shifting a little, so stay right where you are. We’re shifting, but it’s going to be good.”
Friends, family members, and co-workers all came to Joyce’s retirement celebration— an event she describes as a full circle moment.
“I’m ending where most people start. You know, being on the air, a lot of young people aspire to be the announcer, the disc jockey, the radio personality, actually, I’m ending where most people start— and having fun with it,” said Franklin.
